Paula C. Weston

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Wisconsin eyeing national tournament as Badgers ‘deserve what we’ve done so far’

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With the addition of guest Arizona State, B1G Hockey has at least a one-team measurement for nonconference play, but it’s still nearly impossible to gauge where a team really stands in the national picture. Because of that uncertainty, this admission from Wisconsin coach Tony Granato is no surprise.

“I kind of peek at the rankings,” said Granato. “Everybody does.”

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Jan. 21-24

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After Notre Dame tightened up the B1G standings with a sweep of Minnesota last week, it’s starting to feel like the conference could open up a little — especially since the Golden Gophers play a nonconference set against Arizona State this week. It’s a full slate of action for the league, but first let’s see … Read more

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Jan. 3-4

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Happy New Year! When Drew Claussen posted the last picks blog of December 2020, the Big Ten hadn’t yet published the schedule for the rest of the season. Now we know that the rest of the season starts Jan 3. First a look at how Drew and I are doing with picks so far. That … Read more

TMQ: Discussing NCHC commish Fenton’s comments on NCAA hockey tournament seeds based on past showings

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Usually, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a down time for TMQ, but in this most unusual hockey season, we perhaps should have anticipated that something would surface to merit comment this week, which is exactly what happened in the form of NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton’s unconventional ideas about how to choose the 2021 tournament field.

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Reflecting on first part of ’20-21 season, expectations on second half

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USCHO.com Big Ten columnists Paula C. Weston and Drew Claussen discuss what transpired over the first “half” of the 2020-21 season, and also prognosticate what to expect once play resumes after the holidays. Drew: Well, Paula, it is finally time to say goodbye to the year that was 2020. My wife and I welcomed our … Read more

TMQ: ‘First-half’ surprises include AIC flying out of the gate, potential panic in Denver, Omaha soaring in pod play

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Jim: Paula, as we write this on Monday, the NCHC pod has successfully concluded. And it did so with marked success. There wasn’t a positive COVID case reported for anyone involved … Read more

TMQ: Never too early to think about how we would choose the field for the 2021 NCAA hockey tournament

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Paula: Well, Jimmy, there’s a new No. 1 in this week’s poll, and that seems like a good place to start. Minnesota improved to 8-0-0 this week after sweeping Michigan on … Read more

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Dec. 11-13

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There are eight games remaining in this condensed first half of B1G Hockey, including the four scheduled for this week. Given my 0-for performance of a week ago, I am grateful that my picks are creeping up toward .500. Last week Drew: 7-3-0 (.700) Paula: 5-5-0 (.500) This season Drew: 19-10-1 (.650) Paula: 13-16-1 (.455) … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Inconsistent Michigan squad will ‘be more than fine’ as season moves forward

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As Michigan was preparing to host Minnesota in a marquee Big Ten match early this week, Wolverines coach Mel Pearson had a thought or two about his young, talented, and inconsistent team. “We’ll be fine,” said Pearson. “We’ll be more than fine. Just give us another month together as a team, and we’ll be alright.” … Read more

TMQ: New college hockey season starting to come into focus as games are played, impact players emerging

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Jim: Each week, Paula, as more teams get underway, we are learning a lot more. This week, as the NCHC pod kicked off and each of the teams (expect for Colorado … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: As Penn State looking for first win, Gadowsky blames himself, saying, ‘We have to coach better’

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When Penn State hosts Michigan this week, the Nittany Lions will be looking for their first win of the season. With sweeps at the hands of Minnesota and Wisconsin to start this current campaign, Penn State appears to be very different from the team it was last March, when the Nittany Lions ended 2019-20 as … Read more

TMQ: Getting a feel for how the 2020-21 college hockey season will go – or how it won’t go

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Paula: Jimmy, it seems ironic that there is so much hockey to talk about this week given how many teams haven’t begun playing yet, how many games have been postponed and … Read more